That's the reason I'm never ever starting Ramna.I missed it back then and it's just too much now.

Man, if you think Ramna is long. God help you if you ever decide to get into a long running shonen series.

Yeah, I was gonna say...

I mean, Ranma 1/2 is "only" 161 episodes long, and it's sort of a sitcom, so it's pretty easy to put down and pick up. Shounen, though...yeah, those'll suck up tons of your time. The main reason I didn't finish any anime last year was because I devoted most of my spare time to shounen shows, some of which are still running.

BTW...I finally, finally finished the Thriller Bark arc. It was a good arc, possibly more enjoyable than the Enies Lobby arc - I loved the atmosphere and whole holloween-y aspect to the Thriller Bark "island" and its inhabitants; I thought the level of comedy was more balanced to an appropriate level; the action was a definite step down, but it was still very interesting - It's nice to see everyone else take on large groups of enemies, and the Absalom, Undead samurai, and Oars fights were pretty creative. I especially liked the Oars fight, since you got to see everyone team up to take one one enemy, without luffy for the most part, and actually hold their own for quite a while. Even when Luffy came in, they still worked together to defeat him in a rather unexpected way. Too bad Moria himself was a bit of a joke, though. The new crewmate, though, Brooks, is fantastic, instantly likeable and funny. He has a less interesting backstory than usual, but it was still good enough to make me really feel for him.

All together, it was pretty fun to watch. Not the greatest arc, but I still enjoyed it enough, despite being rather tired of the series from my major Marathon in November. I'm tempted to watch the next non-filler arc, but I really should take a long break from the series now.

Started watching Magi yesterday on Youtube. Found it quite enjoyable. Got through 10ish episodes? It captures the manga quite well and the manga is currently in my top four currently running manga (One Piece, Magi, The World Only God Knows, and Billy Bat in no particular order). Going to finish catching up later today.

Finished the first 12 eps of steins gate.... I am pleasantly surprised.... although extremely far fetched and not well explained (which would not be such a problem if the series didn't take itself so seriously) this is highly appealing due to its pacing and characters. I can't wait to see the next twelve..... though I still withhold saying I'm a huge fan until I see this second half as chaos; head didn't fall apart in my eyes until the last leg of it....

Gave bleach a shot.... I'm not giving up on it, but initial impressions are... well.... no so great.... Ichigo just bothers the piss out of me....

Lastly, something about bleach reminded me I never did finish up all of sailor moon so I got back to that as well....... I'm in a Moon Senshi frenzy at the moment... reading the manga, watching the anime and the live action before I move onto playing the 16 bit RPG Another Story through.... I freakin' love sailor moon..... When I was little I was sure I was gonna grow up to be Tuxedo Mask.... where did I go astray??

Finished the first 12 eps of steins gate.... I am pleasantly surprised.... although extremely far fetched and not well explained (which would not be such a problem if the series didn't take itself so seriously) this is highly appealing due to its pacing and characters. I can't wait to see the next twelve..... though I still withhold saying I'm a huge fan until I see this second half as chaos; head didn't fall apart in my eyes until the last leg of it....

I completely agree with you about Chaos;Head, but Steins;Gate only gets better in its second half (and they actually start explaining things...there are reasons for the things that happened in the first half). Have some faith.

That may be the understatement of the year, wow, that show was depressing...so...popped in Kids on the Slope, and gonna keep chugging along on Mushishi, I like it but it seems I only watch an episode every few days for some reason.

Hm. I see the beef peeps have with it. There's less action than 2.0 is a bit of a loss, but I can put that aside (for now).

I think what I didn't like was a lack of growth in the characters. For one: The main cast is pretty pissy at Shinji, but it's hard to place their anger when you get a vague understanding of why; and this is made worse by the fact they're mad for something he didn't mean to do. But, 14 years of living in pissy and shitty world due to one stubborn and childish boy may do that to you -- but I might just be making up excuses for them here, because it's not explained in the movie. But I think what really annoyed me was Shinji himself who seems to enjoy playing the role of an "unlikable character"; and this time he's playing out what's basically the question of "what's inside Pandora's box?" (and SPOILER...it ain't good!).

I also hate the fact the revelations in the film are nothing new *. The big reveal about who Rei is a clone of is "revealed again" but in a different manner. Despite Mari's strong debut, she's put on the back burner, literally playing support for Asuka 90% of the time. Meanwhile, Asuka's mad all the time but in good spirits about fighting, and her foil, Rei, gives new meaning to "the silent treatment" by never being able to answer a fucking question even when you look her in the eyes (to counter this, she's actually "nicer" than previous Rei incarnations). Gendo is still in one of two poses he's ever been drawn in (sitting and leaning with his fingers crossed), being mysterious, using his son (which reinforces Shinji's feelings of worthlessness and that he's become a self-fulfilling prophecy to), and missing his wife and trying to get her back (while ignoring his one and only son... ... ... clearly Shinji was an unintended pregnancy by this point, or even his own father doesn't like the man Shinji is becoming like the rest of the audience is).

The film is brilliantly animated and brilliantly scored (giving Ghibli a run for its money in both categories), but the lack of answers and lack of progress despite the 14 year time jump leave a lot more to be desired.

On the bright, Kaoru plays the most amusing and fascinatingly (short-lived) anime character that's been seen in a long time. His ambiguously homosexual nature serves as one of the greatest supports a weak character like Shinji could ask for. The relationship doesn't feel forced because Shinji is so fucked up; it's realistic in that just having anyone so kind, intimate, and understanding would probably make anyone blush. I've always loved the question of whether his... um, at times over-the-top friendliness (i.e.; borderline homosexual undertones) were genuine or merely a means to an end. The relationship played out differently here, and so do the means by which it progresses -- but the outcome is the same, and again the revelations vaguely explained.

It's hard to really decide what to make of the film; it's good but doesn't really try to do much with it despite the opportunity for doing so. Regardless, Eva 2.0 was easily a stronger film as a whole. I look forward to the final film and hope for a Happy Eva End to what is seriously the most big-ball-of-sad version of Earth to ever survive the Apocalypse.

*or maybe it's just been too long since I really bit into the series to really understand it (I really couldn't understand that plot any more than "THIRD IMPACT IS BAD AND WILL FUCK UP EARTH EVEN MORE THAN IT ALREADY IS IF IT HAPPENS").

There's this new anime called Koutora and episode 1 was incredible. I watched episode 2 and it's also incredible.I'm not sure if it's possible for an anime to keep being this good for a whole season, but as of now, it definitively has an explosive start.

There's this new anime called Koutora and episode 1 was incredible. I watched episode 2 and it's also incredible.I'm not sure if it's possible for an anime to keep being this good for a whole season, but as of now, it definitively has an explosive start.

I'm also amazed by the themes put forth. Gutsy stuff.

Watched it -- and yeah, wow. Fantastic mix of drama, comedy, and just that touch of romance. I really like the relationship between Kotoura and the main guy. The first part of the first episode was brutal, like you said, it goes a lot of places other series don't touch on, and when they do, it's spaced out a lot more. Kotoura is really sweet though, and I was so happy when she joined the club. Been a while since I've rooted for a character. Hopefully the quality stays consistent!